eat dessert first
It is officially spring when I walk outside my door and there are stalks of rhubarb standing tall in my garden. To date, rhubarb and strawberries are the only edible things I’ve managed to grow. Every year the rabbits and squirrels wait until the strawberries are perfectly formed and just […]
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. These chocolate-ginger marbled cheesecake bars are my contribution.
I admit I enjoy the detailed work of an elaborate dessert or cake on occasion. I was a fine arts major who couldn’t paint or draw particularly well, but loved being in the midst of all that creativity in the art department. It wasn’t until I found myself in a […]
This weekend was my neighbor’s birthday. Her husband asked me to bake her a decadent chocolate cake and decorate it with “Spring Flowers.” Here in MN it isn’t exactly bursting with flora yet. In fact, as I was working on this flower cake it started to snow. But Easter is […]
You’ll find this Coconut Macaroons recipe, among may of my other favorite cookies, in Zoë Bakes Cookies. I know, the whole macaroon/macaron thing is rather confusing. It’s helpful to think of both as derivatives of a cookie that has evolved over hundreds of years with each version maintaining that base […]
There are very few things that say comfort food like a chicken pot pie. I go for the classic combination with chicken, peas, carrots and a parsnip for flare, in a rich creamy white sauce that is made with fresh thyme and parsley. The whole thing is draped in a […]
Earlier this month I went on a mom only junket with my friend Jen. We went to Vegas! Our trip there was for the food and not all of the other more “sinful” elements it is known for. We stayed at the ultra *fabulous* Wynn hotel, which has some of […]
Thanks to Peter of kalofagas.ca (I follow his culinary journey on Twitter), I’ve been craving Greek food, and baklava in particular. For some crazy reason I haven’t made it since I was in college, about 20 years ago. I love the crisp phyllo, which is layered with ground nuts, sweet […]
Recently I participated in a benefit auction for one of my favorite charities, the Children’s Heartlink. We auctioned off a “celebrity” chef bake-off to be held at General Mills test kitchen. Assembled were a team of my favorite pastry chefs in the Twin Cities as the coaches and some heavy […]
Last summer Graham and I went to NYC to eat, take in a few museums, visit with cousins and eat some more. Graham’s cousin Riad is the executive chef at Pastis and Balthazar (and the author of the The Balthazar Cookbook). It goes without saying that Riad is an amazing […]
My husband is going to have a fit when he realizes that I’m talking about his diet on my website. It really does have some relevance to this post, so I hope he will forgive me! He went to the doctor recently and was basically told he needed to cut […]
Butterscotch is one of those flavors that can make you travel through time. I remember eating it, still warm off the stove, when I was just a kid. It was straight from the box of Jell-O instant pudding and it was fabulous to my 7-year-old taste buds. Today I’d probably […]
I'm Zoë François and I love to bake. This is where I play with sugar and take the mystery out of baking everything from cookies to wedding cakes. I studied pastry at the CIA (the culinary school, not the spy agency), worked in restaurants, have written 10 cookbooks and you can find more of my creations in my Substack Newsletter and YouTube videos. More...
